DRIVER David Siddall's trip to the supermarket proved very costly . . . after he was forced to pay é70 to have his car unclamped.

He popped into Asda at Harpurhey for 15 minutes and returned to his Vauxhall Corsa to find it clamped for using a disabled space - even though there is barely a trace of the painted warning wheelchair symbol.

Mr Siddall, 21, a telecoms engineer, of Clito Street, Moston, says that the markings had been removed by machinery rather than just faded but he had to pay up when the clamper refused to listen to his protests.

"I was only there a short time while I popped into the supermarket," he said.

"The space just looks like any other. There are disabled spaces next to it but they are clearly marked.

"When I pointed it out to the clamper, he just said he had heard it all before. When I said it couldn't be legal because there were no markings, he said they had clamped people there before.

"But I have parked there before and when I spoke to the security camera operator, he said it had been like that for about seven months.

"Asda said the car park had nothing to do with them."

The car park is in the former Harpurhey District Centre, off Moston Lane. It is now the North City Shopping Centre following a regeneration scheme by developers Redman Heenan, in partnership with the city council and Asda.

A spokesman for Asda said it had no control over the car park.

Redman Heenan manage the site and a spokesman said that the painted lines which have faded are to be repainted.

She said: "To get to that space, he had to pass a sign which says `disabled parking only beyond this point'. There is also a clampers' notice there. We only reluctantly decided to employ clampers to protect the disabled spaces."